Pablo Escobar

Medellin is birthplace and burial place of renowned drug lord Pablo Escobar. Loved by his people of Medellin but despised by most other Colombians, he led a very interesting life. Growing up in a very poor area of Medellin, Escobar felt that there was inequality in the country and a huge divide between rich and poor. So from the age of 12 years old he set out to become a real life Robin Hood, taking from the rich and giving to the poor, initially by selling marijuana before eventually discovering cocaine and introducing it to Colombia, the United States and eventually around the globe. By the age of 22, Pablo Escobar was a millionaire and by 44 he was the 7th richest man in the world, having made over $17 billion USD. He was also the most wanted man with a $10, 000, 000 USD reward for information on his whereabouts. There is no doubt that Escobar was generous with his money, feeding, housing and providing jobs for all of the people within his local community, and being heavily involved in the national football team.

I decided to do the Pablo Escobar tour to find out more about his life and death. The tour started at his place of death, a small house in the centre of Medellin where, after jumping from the window onto the roof, Escobar was shot down by police who intended to capture rather than kill him, but Escobar shot himself in the head at the final moment, making the conscience decision to die in Colombia rather than go to prison in the USA.

After visiting his place of death and making a chilling visit to his grave, we continued on to the most bizarre aspect of the tour; a cup of coffee at Roberto Escobar's house, Pablo Escobar's brother. Roberto was heavily involved in the Escobar drugs cartel across Colombia. He was once one of the most wanted men in world and after serving ten years in prison for his involvement with the cartel, Roberto returned to his hometown of Medellin. During my visit, Roberto was very open about his life and was happy to discuss his involvement with the drugs cartel. It was such a surreal experience to be in his house, and I was quite overwhelmed by he whole experience. However, whilst others relayed questions about his life and the life of his brother, all I could think was ''How do you feel about hugely contributing to the world drugs trade, being partly responsible for destroying Colombia and murdering hundreds of people?'' But I thought that was a slightly inappropriate question to ask a man whilst drinking a nice cup of coffee in his home...